Apr 29, 2009 -- Matthew Diller, a prominent scholar of social welfare law and policy who was associate dean for academic affairs at Fordham Law School from 2003 to 2008, has been named dean of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. Diller is the Cooper Family Professor of Law and co-director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham Law, where he has taught since 1993. “Matthew Diller is a scholar and administrator of the highest order and brings to Cardozo an enduring commitment to social justice,” said President Richard M. Joel. “He embodies the values and vision that inform and propel the Yeshiva University educational experience.” Diller, who will begin his duties on Aug. 1, 2009, is the sixth dean to lead Cardozo. He succeeds David Rudenstine, who has been in the position since 2001 and who will return to teaching at Cardozo full time as the Sheldon H. Solow Professor of Law. The youngest of Manhattan’s law schools, Cardozo has achieved national acclaim for its programs in intellectual property law and alternative dispute resolution and is home to The Innocence Project, the world-renowned clinic that has used post-conviction DNA testing to free hundreds of wrongly-convicted individuals. Since its founding in 1976, the law school has graduated more than 10,000 JD and LLM candidates who are now living and working throughout the United States and internationally “Cardozo is one of the remarkable success stories of legal education over the past half century,” Diller said. “I am excited at the prospect of working with the superb faculty, administration, students and board members who always conveyed great love for the law school and excitement about the possibilities for its future. I was especially struck by the energy, dynamism, and leadership of President Joel and his and the administration’s commitment to helping Cardozo flourish.” He continued, “I’m coming to Cardozo at a time when I can build upon the extraordinary example set by David Rudenstine, during whose remarkable deanship Cardozo has blossomed.” Diller has lectured and written extensively on the legal dimensions of social welfare policy, including public assistance, social security, and disability programs. He was a staff attorney in the civil appeals and law reform unit of the Legal Aid Society in New York from 1986 to 1993. He received his AB and JD degrees magna cum laude from Harvard University and then clerked for the late Honorable Walter R. Mansfield of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1985-1986. In the fall of 1999, Diller was scholar in residence at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. His articles have been published in the Yale Law Journal, UCLA Law Review, Texas Law Review, Stanford Law & Policy Review, among others. Cardozo Board Chair Kathryn O. Greenberg ‘82C, said, “I am excited and fully supportive of this outstanding appointment and look forward to working closely with Matthew Diller. I am particularly pleased that he will continue to build upon the solid foundation and emphasis on legal ethics and public service that was strengthened so gloriously by Dean David Rudenstine.” In addition to his responsibilities at Fordham, Diller has been a member of the board of directors of Legal Services of New York since 1999 and was its vice chair from 2003-2007. He has been a member of the executive committee of the poverty law section of the Association of American Law Schools and was chair of the committee in 1999-2000. From 2000 to 2008, he was also a member of the board of directors of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. At Fordham, Diller was recognized by the 2002 graduating class with the Eugene Keefe Award for outstanding contributions to the law school and in 2000 received the Louis J. Lefkowitz Award for the Advancement of Urban Law from the Fordham Urban Law Journal. In 1991 he received the legal services award from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.